“So, You’re Not Doing This Right”: Faculty and Transgender Students’ University Classroom Experiences

Abstract

Transgender people in the United States experience mistreatment and discrimination, as well as harassment and violence, at much higher rates than the general population. In university classrooms specifically, less conspicuous forms of prejudice-based behavior are even more common. This study aimed to gain an accurate understanding of cisgender faculty and transgender student perceptions and attitudes regarding the issues transgender students face in the classroom. Semi-structured, one-on-one interviews were conducted with cisgender faculty (n = 7) as well as two transgender students (n = 2) at a mid-sized U.S. university. Thematic analysis was conducted to identify and describe interviewees’ understanding of and concerns about transgender students’ experiences in the classroom. The interviewed cisgender faculty were aware of inappropriate comments among student peers that they viewed as requiring intervention. At the same time, they also described awareness of their own improper name or pronoun usage. The two transgender students described feelings of being separated from other students by virtue of their transgender identity, experiences of being tokenized, and being positioned by their professors in classrooms to represent all transgender students. Implications for positively and proactively addressing transgender students’ experiences of prejudice in higher education classrooms are presented.